Medtronic finalizes a $1.1 billion acquisition and five more updates from spine and orthopedic device companies in the last week:

Grant Zarzour, MD, is observing private equity, management service organizations and other forms of partnerships in orthopedics closely.

Zimmer Biomet Executive Vice President and CFO Suketu Upadhyay was elected to Vertex's board of directors.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring company Assure Holdings posted 5,100 managed cases in the first quarter of 2022.

Kuros Biosciences launched the MagnetOs Easypack Putty in the U.S.

West Tennessee Healthcare's North Hospital has opened and will primarily be used to perform orthopedic surgeries, such as joint replacements and sports medicine procedures, the Jackson Sun reported May 17.

Fighting for the approval of minimally invasive alternatives to spinal fusion; non-surgeons performing certain spine procedures; and insurers too often dictating care decisions are some of the biggest threats to spine surgeons today, three specialists told Becker's.

Andrew Kokkino, MD, recently completed his 100th robotic-assisted spine surgery with the ExcelsiusGPS robot in Springfield, Ore. 

Baptist Memorial Health Care's Brain & Spine Network Center of Excellence in Memphis, Tenn., partnered with Cedar Gate Technologies to support its Brain and Spine Center of Excellence.

Viseon's MaxView intraoperative spinal imaging system surpassed 1,000 cases in the U.S., the company said May 18.

Since its inception in 2015, the FDA's breakthrough designation has been awarded to 657 products across 19 areas. Orthopedics is among the top-earning specialties.

Three Northwell Health hospitals have been named Advanced Spine Centers of Excellence by The Joint Commission. 

Pittsburgh Penguins center Brian Boyle had surgery at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside in Pittsburgh, the team said May 16.

A sports medicine specialist was killed May 15 in a shooting that wounded four others in Orange County, Calif., CBS reported May 16.

Orthopedic surgeon Stephen Snyder, MD, will be awarded the Arthroscopy Association of North America's lifetime achievement award at the organization's annual meeting in San Francisco on May 19.

Orthopedic surgeon Gary Lynn Rasmussen, MD, is arguing that the $20 million verdict he won against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes should be tripled to $60 million, according to Law360.

The number of medical devices earning FDA's breakthrough designation has grown exponentially in recent years, and many were given to orthopedic products.

Hartford (Conn.) Healthcare added the Prodisc L artificial disc to its services.

Sravisht Iyer, MD, recently completed his 100th robotic-assisted spine surgery with the ExcelsiusGPS robot in New York City.

CMS has granted its new technology add-on payment to SI-Bone's iFuse Bedrock Granite implant, which received the FDA's breakthrough device designation in November and is designed for sacroiliac fusion and sacropelvic fixation.